Would it be mad to move abroad and back during GCSEs and A Levels?

[SongsOfSongs]

I have 2 DDs. DH has just heard of a possible job offer abroad (Asia) that would be for ~3 years. If we moved, DD1 would do Y9-Y11 and GCSEs abroad, but would return for sixth form. DD2 would do Y7-Y9 abroad and would return for GCSEs. Would this be terrible?

We moved from our home country when they were 5 and 3, and they changed schools when starting Y5 and Y3, so they've already had a bit of upheaval and change in their lives, but plenty of families move more I would think. I wouldn't have them move mid-GCSEs or A Levels, but in between. Would this work out ok or are there more difficulties than I realise?

We really enjoy living in the UK, but despite DH making pretty good money (I'm disabled and thus cannot work), we cannot afford to buy a home here. We hope that going away for a few years with higher pay and lower taxes may allow us to return and live a more comfortable life.

You’ve not been through the options process yet, but it’s not a quick process and even if you’re already in the school there is no guarantee of getting your top choices due to timetabling clashes.

Your dd wouldn’t be joining until the start of year 10, so all classes and sets would have been sorted already and she’d be left to fill in any gaps. It’s a risk

Oh you're right - sorry, I got myself mixed up. I was thinking she'd be back beginning of Y9, not beginning of Y10! Would independent schools be a better option for those 2 years for her? Maybe we could swing it if we had enough extra after being abroad!

I’ve no experience of independent schools sorry.

This is why we put Dd in an independent school when we moved back to the UK. However, based in your goal of going overseas to save money paying for two years at an independent school rather defeats this purpose. We are in the south west and current fees are about £18k, but can be much more expensive in other areas.

I think DH said the salary in Singapore would be about 2.5x what he makes now?? Plus lower taxes. Hopefully we’d be able to squirrel away 2 years of fees.

I think you may have to allow for 4 years of fees. After moving country at 3, moving schools at 8, 11 and 13 they may not want to move again at 16.

Don’t underestimate how expensive Singapore is - land of the plus plus!

I see what you mean, but I understand a lot of students do move around for sixth form. I guess it depends on the schools and area. It's something I would need to investigate more.

Agree.
we budgeted for two years of fees, but Dd didn’t want to move again after GCSEs so it became 4 years. Fortunately this was before VAT on fees.

Yeah I need to research further, but the Singapore salary felt quite high in my opinion. I'd need to look more into how far it would actually go. The Japan one was a fair amount less I think, though I don't remember by how much, as it was in yen.

Yeah mad. Kids get one chance mate. Sounds like you’re just trying to wedge the kids needs into your life choices.

if you stay abroad longer they could skip GCSE’s and do the international baccalaureate instead. That’s what I did and it didn’t hold me back, universities just went with predicted grades. Living abroad is an amazing, eye opening experience and international schools are brilliantly diverse. Fantastic life experience - go for it!

Sounds like you have quite a lot of research to do. We were expats for 25 years and it’s worth checking contracts thoroughly re health, dental, pension contributions, school fees, relocation costs, rent, shipping personal effects, will the company pay for financial advice re tax returns ….etc etc.
I would also factor in a personal travel budget as it’s a fabulous opportunity to explore Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia etc.

If they stay overseas until 18 there is very little chance of securing home fees status for uk universities. If you do secure home fees you will not be eligible for student finance. Ds secured home fees as Dh was on secondment and still employed in the uk, but we paid all his university fees and expenses- approximately £60k for the three year course.
Although you don’t have to go back to the uk for university.

it could work in terms of schooling.

but it can be very hard on teens in terms of friendships. not many teens move school at that age, so the kid comes to a class that already has established friendships and has to try to fit in. Some are fine, but some really struggle and have all the mental health issues that go with it.

I'd be cautious about moving schools during the teen years for that reason.

It may have changed but it used to depend on you are a uk tax payer or not. My parents rented out their home whilst we were away and paid tax on that income so it wasn’t an issue for us.

As I said, we're very happy living in the UK but it's just too expensive to ever buy a place. If we don't take this chance, we'll probably end up moving back to our home country instead in a couple of years.

But maybe doing a 3 year adventure would set us up much better financially and then we could come back and actually permanently settle. We're not just looking to do a jolly and drag them along for no reason.

Yeah we need home university fees though. IB would be fine, but I don't think that would work for us.

I disagree with this. At international schools people come and go all the time. I found them to be very welcoming places and made lots of friends.

Yeah, this is a big concern for us. They did well when we switched their schools and DD1 has done really well transitioning to secondary where she essentially knew no one, but obviously it's a tough thing to do. The other option is probably to move back to our home country where they'd have to start over completely and in a new school system, which is not ideal either.

Even their schools in London have been filled with children constantly coming and going. In some ways that's been hard, but they're probably also used to it as a normal part of life at this point.

Well we don't own a home, which is the whole impetus for this idea, so unfortunately that would not help us I don't think.

Oh yes, we literally just heard about this today and were going back and forth about whether or not it would be viable for the children. If we decide it is, we'll get into all of the details to see if it makes sense.

I don’t think tax payer status is relevant now. You need to be resident in the UK (pre brexit EU was fine too) for three years for home fees status. There are some exceptions - dh’s contract stated he was on secondment and that he was still employed in the uk. The university did ask for a copy of all dh’s contracts to confirm this. This was 2017 and given the dire financial situation of many UK universities I think it is even less likely they will grant home fees status.

Agree. There is a huge turnover of pupils so students tend to be very welcoming.